August 2008

Excellent op/ed in today's Wall Street Journal.   Outlines how Obama and others in Congress want to impose a "windfall" profit tax on the big oil companies, even when the profit margins are among the lowest per major industry group.  The problem lies in defining "windfall." An excerpt: Exxon's profit margin stood at 10% for 2007, which is hardly out of line with the oil and gas industry ... read more

More on the earlier discussion.   This AP story just crossed regarding a new Obama ad: ------------------- CHICAGO -- Barack Obama's campaign unveiled a television ad Monday that attacks Republican John McCain's energy policies.    "After one president in the pocket of big oil we can't afford another," says the ad, referring to President ... read more

LIstening to Senator Obama's Lansing, Michigan speech .. bashing ExxonMobil as the poster child of 'big oil.'  Noted their profits and revenues multiple times. One wonders if the Senator is aware that Exxon produces only about 3% of the world's oil. There is no company in the world producing 3% of anything that has control over the price of its goods. It seems particularly sad that any ... read more

Below is a 1 year chart of the PowerShares Dollar Bull ETF (UUP).    The question ahead of tomorrow's Fed meeting is if the U.S. dollar has finally turned from being the weak-back back into the trusty old greenback our grandfathers loved and respected.  The answer is a semi-affirmative "probably." The UUP is not a direct bet for the dollar against any one currency.  Rather it is a long ... read more

There is no industry as difficult to understand or as confusing to cover as the airlines.   It should be straightforward.   Millions of Americans want to travel.  Airlines want to take them there.  Demand.   Supply.  Everyone wins. Sadly, that's not the case.    In the airline business, both the companies and the consumers are losing.      Airlines are losing billions of dollars ... read more

I'm boarding a flight later today for the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan with mixed emotions.   It's great that I can fly within a few miles of the rural town where I'm headed, but on the other hand I know my flight is part of the problem for airlines.   Let me explain. The last time I flew there it was just me and two other people on the flight.   Its a 30 seat plane (seen ... read more

It must be bad karma from writing about the airlines.   My 3:38pm flight to Detroit on Northwest is delayed for three hours.   Apparently the plane needs maintenance.  Either way I will now miss my connecting flight, with the next one being the same time (6:30pm) on Friday.     So it looks like I'm going to get to the Motor City around 9pm tonight, rent a car and drive the 7 hours.   ... read more

FareCompare.com's Rick Seaney wrote a thoughtful response to my airline posting.   You can read it here.  http://rickseaney.com/2008/08/07/pay-more-and-live-fly-with-it/ Rick makes many good points about my statement that "flying is essentially the same" as it was decades ago.   Those points though are mostly off topic.   If I wasn't clear what I meant was that while there certainly have ... read more

The July producer price index figure shows wholesale prices surged 1.2% in July.   That's the biggest jump in 27 years.   Truly stunning, particularly when you consider many strategists believe we are entering a period of slower global economic growth.   Prices theoretically should be falling, not rising, as slower growth means (theoretically) slower demand.    Of course, economic ... read more

The Wall Street Journal today reports that eBay (EBAY) is again changing its fee structure in a bid to raise customer traffic and increase profits.  The article notes: "Online auctioneer eBay Inc. said it will lower the fees it charges for products listed for sale at a fixed price, in a bid to become more competitive with rival Web sites such as Amazon. com Inc. Ebay, which sparked seller ... read more